UMUR "The Scepter of the Ancients" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Australian, Tasmania based death metal act Psycroptic. The album was independently released in May 2003. Psycroptic formed in 1999 and released their debut full-length studio album "The Isle Of Disenchantment" in 2001. Apparently the independently released and otherwise intriguing debut album didn´t stir the waters enough for a label to take notice as the band once again had to finance the recording of an album and release it independently.

...and that´s a bit of a shame, as there is definitely enough quality here (and on the debut) to warrant interest from labels. Stylistically the material on "The Scepter of the Ancients" continue the brutal technical death metal style of "The Isle Of Disenchantment (2001)", but it´s audible Psycroptic have grown as songwriters and that they have honed their playing skills too, because "The Scepter of the Ancients" is a step up in quality in all departments compared to the debut album. Multiple tempo changes on all tracks, ultra fast riffing/drumming, and various forms of extreme vocals, ranging from deep growling, to high pitched screaming, to low end piggy grunting. Lead vocalist Matthew Chalk sounds positively deranged/schizophrenic here. It´s a great extreme metal vocal performance and a lot of praise goes out to Chalk for delivering something a bit different from the norm.

The quality is high throughout and all tracks are brutal and highly energetic pieces of technical death metal. While the material aren´t the most varied in terms of telling the tracks apart (which isn´t unusual for the genre), it´s one of the more diverse releases on the scene and there is a touch of originality here that you don´t hear everyday either. The raw and primal sounding production job lends the material a great organic quality, but it´s still a detailed sound where all instruments and vocals are clearly audible in the mix. Upon conclusion "The Scepter of the Ancients" is through and through a high quality release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Isle Of Disenchantment" is the debut full-length studio album by Australian, Tasmania based death metal act Psycroptic. The album was independently released in January 2001. Psycroptic formed in 1999 and they didn´t release any official demos before recording and releasing "The Isle Of Disenchantment"...

...and maybe that´s why "The Isle Of Disenchantment" features a sound production which is raw and not way above demo sound quality. The sound production suits the furiously fast-paced and chaotic nature of the material though, so it´s not a huge issue, although a little more clarity and balance in the mix could have provided the music with a little more punch and heaviness. Stylistically the music on "The Isle Of Disenchantment" is very brutal and relatively technically well played death metal. Loads of breaks, tempo changes, and an almost chaotic sounding atmosphere are some of the characteristics of the album. Lead vocalist Matthew Chalk is one of the more varied extreme metal vocalists out there, as he screams, growls and speaks (even sings) his way through the album with great passion and conviction. He is a skilled vocalist who brings a lot to the music. The instrumental part of the album is very well performed too, and there are more than one jaw-dropping moment found on the album.

The material on the 9 track, 39:09 minutes long album are well written and relatively memorable for the genre, although the tracks aren´t easy to tell apart unless the album is given many spins, but Psycroptic do understand the importance of variation, and they incorporate details here and there to keep things interesting throughout. An example is the slow and heavy opening to the second track of the album "The Sword of Uncreation", which is a simple yet effectful way of changing style and pace after the brutality and chaotic technical chaos of the opening track "Carnival of Vulgarity". Of course "The Sword of Uncreation" picks up the brutal chaotic frenzy soon enough, but it´s those little details which make "The Isle Of Disenchantment" an intriguing listen.

Upon conclusion "The Isle Of Disenchantment" is a quality brutal technical death metal album, and although it´s not a perfect release the album features more than enough promise and high quality features to deserve a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

UMUR "Psycroptic" is the eponymously titled 6th full-length studio album by Australian death metal act Psycroptic. The album was released through Prosthetic Records in March 2015 and is the successor to "The Inherited Repression" from 2012. While especially drummer David Haley has been quite busy in recent years with other projects (Pestilence, The Amenta, Ruins... among others), he and the other three guys in Psycroptic have still found time to have a relatively steady release cycle for Psycroptic. They´ve also managed to have a steady lineup since "Symbols of Failure" from 2006, when Jason Peppiatt replaced original singer Matthew "Chalky" Chalk.

Psycroptic started out playing a relatively brutal type of technical death metal, but they´ve slowly changed their style over the years towards a more groove oriented techncial death metal style with "core" leanings. The core element is mostly due to Peppiatt´s vocal style which ranges from brutal growling to more aggressive core tinged vocals. The instrumental part of the music is groove oriented technical death metal. While listening to the album I pictured what it would sound like if Decapitated and Lamb of God teamed up for a project.

Psycroptic are very skilled performers and while the core tinged vocals is probably an obstacle for some, the execution of the music is really something to behold. These guys can both groove and do it while playing some technically advanced riffs and rhythms. There´s an organic atmosphere to the proceedings which is greatly enjoyable, and which is helped further along by the well sounding and for the style rather organic toned production.

The material on the 9 track, 37:45 minutes long album is also relatively varied, and it doesn´t take more than a few spins to be able to tell the tracks apart. This is one of the issues I´ve had with some of Psycroptic´s earlier releases, but they´ve stepped up here, and this self-titled release is overall a really strong effort by Psycroptic. A 4 star (80%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "The Inherited Repression" is the 5th full-length studio album by Australian death metal act Psycroptic. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in February 2012. "The Inherited Repression" was recorded at drummer Joe Haley´s home studio. It´s a professional recording studio though and the album features a clear, sharp and powerful sound production.

The music on the album is technical death metal. If you are familiar with the last couple of albums by the band it´ll be no surprise that the band have sneaked in a couple of "core" influences too. It´s especially the growling vocals that feature an aggressive "core" edge that more "regular" sounding death metal vocalists don´t employ (not completely unlike how the vocal style has changed on "Carnival Is Forever (2011)" by Decapitated). The music contains razor sharp riffs, ultra fast double pedalling, tempo changes and breaks and just a generally high level musicianship. The materiel is well written but it takes time to really tell the tracks apart and hooks begin to appear.

Overall "The Inherited Repression" is a quality technical death metal album and a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.